GARY Megson would be the first person to admit that watching Wanderers has not been easy this season.

The Whites have looked nothing if not a team in transition, frustratingly inconsistent, yet able to gain enough results against the sides around them in the table to steer themselves clear of trouble.

After the stresses and strains of the previous campaign, you might think a year spent in the relative safety of mid-table would sound appealing.

But at a club still able to recall two European campaigns and four successive top eight finishes, frustrations that have often spilled from the terraces are perhaps a mite more understandable.

Having inherited a side in turmoil 19 months ago, Megson definitely earned the right to start putting things on his own terms.

He performed the necessary “hatchet job” last summer, ridding the Whites of players who have since failed to prove they were Premier League standard, barring a few notable exceptions.

What remained was a first 11 that looked capable of avoiding another season of struggle. Beyond that, as the manager pointed out on many occasions, was the top flight’s smallest pool of replacements.

Luckily, injuries never hit hard. Results nosedived when the likes of Gary Cahill, Matt Taylor and Johan Elmander found themselves on the sidelines over Christmas, and had this happened on a more regular basis, a very different situation might well have unfolded.

In the end, Wanderers survived by a clear seven points, showing improvement on most statistical fronts and leaving giants such as Newcastle United and Sunderland trailing in their wake.

At most clubs of similar stature that would be cause for celebration, yet throughout this season a macabre sub-plot has played out between the manager and the Whites fans to leave an atmosphere peculiar only to this area of the North West.

Megson’s fractious relationship with the supporters is a complex one. From day one of his arrival, opinion was split on the terraces over whether he was the right appointment to succeed Sammy Lee and little has changed.

While even his most ardent detractor will admit he passed his first test, saving the club from relegation, with flying colours, that did not stop ill-feeling spilling over into the campaign just gone.

Emotions came to the surface with regularity in the first half of the season, culminating in that infamous night at Ewood Park in January when the manager exchanged words with a section of supporters via the back page of The Bolton News.

Matters have since cooled, and although the atmosphere at the Reebok in particular can vary, there have thankfully not been any repeats of the ugliness witnessed at Blackburn, or before it, Tottenham.

After Sammy Lee’s unsuccessful attempt to change Wanderers’ playing style, Megson quickly identified on his arrival that a return to the more belt and braces approach was necessary to stop the rot. That philosophy continued into this season and, at times, the results have been tough to watch.

The current squad could never be faulted for effort, honesty or endeavour – three qualities held dear by Megson – yet he will no doubt know a lack of creative flair comes at a cost.

While it seems harsh to criticise him for employing the same brand of results-first football that had brought such success to Sam Allardyce not so long ago, it was the presence of a Jay Jay Okocha, Ivan Campo or Youri Djorkaeff among Big Sam’s ranks that created such a buzz about the Reebok.

On a PR front, a signing of such genuine creative class might well be worth its weight in gold.

While the journey has not exactly been a pretty one - there are some genuine reasons for optimism heading into next season that Wanderers can build on the foundations already laid.

Gary Cahill’s emergence as one of the Premier League’s best young defenders has been a spectacular one.

It’s little wonder that Megson wants to build his side around the down-to-earth defender, who has attracted admiring glances from bigger clubs such as Arsenal. Fending off any advances might well be one of the most important jobs Megson has this summer.

If it were possible, Kevin Davies proved himself even more invaluable to the club’s cause, this season adding 12 goals to the gallons of blood, sweat and tears he has shed for the Whites in the last six years.

Both Cahill and Davies have been rewarded with international recognition, although an appearance in Fabio Capello’s mysterious ‘long squad’ does not do either enough justice, in my humble opinion.

Matt Taylor can also feel slightly aggrieved that he has not received a call, given that his 10 goals make him the top-scoring left-sided player in the whole Premier League.

Romance has been thin on the ground, but youngster Chris Basham’s fairytale rise to the first team ranks has been a breath of fresh air.

Just a few years ago, the 20-year-old was working shifts in McDonald’s while attending college - yet following a brief cameo against his hometown club Sunderland in November, he transformed into an established member of the first team, scoring his first senior goal at Stamford Bridge.

Some, however, still have a point to prove after a less than convincing debut season in a Wanderers shirt.

Johan Elmander’s £8.2million price tag is yet to be fully substantiated after he managed just five goals, the last of which was in mid-December.

Fabrice Muamba too has failed to live up to the promising reputation he earned at Arsenal and Birmingham City.

Megson may not have silenced his own doubters just yet - but one feels the hard works starts here with a vital few months in the transfer market.

Who arrives through the doors at the Reebok is likely to go a long way to shaping the mood before August’s big kick-off.

And goodness knows, some people could do with cheering up.